How many watts per gallon is needed?

[X3R0X]

I am setting up a 125 gallon tank (72"x18"x20 something") and I want to make it planted. I was wondering how much lighting I am going to need.


Aquabuys.com has a deal on Compact Flourescent Retrofit kits. I was looking at the 2 x 55 watt kits for $79.99 or the 2 x 96 watt kit for $99.99. The bulbs are also 50/50 bulbs. Which one do you think would be better for my 125 gallon. I plan on building a canopy soon so thats why I am going with the retrofit kit.

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

Regular fluorescent bulbs work fine up to about 25-30'' of height. Therefore, you could save the money and just get some regular fixtures at the Home Depot. Since you build your own canopy, you can just build 6 tubes in there.

Compact fluorescent has higher light output, resulting in two advantages
1) you can illuminate taller tanks w/o having to pay for HQI quite yet
2) your light strips are smaller, in case you do not have enough room on top of your tank

Since your tank is 20'' high and you build your own canopy, I personally don't think compacts are of any advantage for you. Furthermore, there is a larger variety of regular fluorescent tubes out there, which allows better customizing of your lighting. With compacts, you're basically stuck with whatever the manufacturer sells, especially since the connectors on the bulbs vary from brand to brand.

Granted, another advantage of compacts is that they live 2 years as compared to 1 year for regular fluorescent, but that is a minor detail IMO.

Good luck, whatvever you decide,
HarleyK


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[Peanut_Power]

If you still want to do pc go to this website......www.aquatraders.com they have some LOW prices! Awesomely low!! www.bigalsonline.com also has some great lighting setups!

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=25

 

[Peanut_Power]

This one right here is MORE than enough...haha...i might get this one! cuz geez....thats almost three watts per gallon...more than enough...

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=26

 

[spinnerbayt]

There are alot of answers to this question. We need more info. #1 What is your budget? #2 Are you going to run Co2? If so don't even bother with DIY Co2 on a tank of that size. You will want pressurized. #3 What do you want the final outcome to be on this tank? If you want to do a planted tank then buy the right equipment the first time around. Trust me I know first hand. If I was setting up another planted 125 I would buy a 6x55 or 4x96 watt retro kit from http://www.ahsupply.com/ I would also suggest that you read this site...http://www.rexgrigg.com/Here are a few pics of my 125. Which I am running 6x65 watts.

 

[RowingMunkeyCU]

the amount of light you need is really dependant on what plants you want to keep, you can keep a low to medium light tank (1-2.5wpg) and just use regular flourescents. if you want something more, you can look at the compact flourescents or hqi for a high light tank (>3wpg). the other thing that you should consider if you want a high light tank is a CO2 setup, otherwise you can end up with a ridiculous amount of algae.

50/50 setups dont have any advantage in a freshwater aquarium, you only see a benefit in saltwater (helps coral grow better).

i would highly recommend checking out: http://www.ahsupply.com/

i have a 1x55W kit on my 20G high planted, built my own canopy, and it works awesome.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Awesome guys! Very imformative! Don't forget about substrate...its a key factor as well if you are gonna be doing high lighting! Man, I really want to do a planted tank now.

 

[spinnerbayt]

Yes substrate is very important. If you can get Eco-complete, Florite, or ADA then those are some of your higher price substrates and all work great. If your budget is tight then you might want to look at baseball field additives like Turface or Soilmaster. I use Soilmaster and it works great. I can get 50 pound bags for about $16. It took about 1.75 bags to do my 125 so its very cost affective. You will also want to buy dry ferts for a tank of that size because premixed will get expensive very fast. I would take a look at Gregwatson.com for your ferts and mix them yourself.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Blah, ferts are annoying. I had a 55gal that had some nice growth goin on in it, had some fluorite, laterlite balls, and about 160watts of lighting, so just barely over 3 wpg. Had the ghetto DIY Co2 bottles for my Co2. Thing I don't like about those is if you don't mix it right or time it right you can have a spike...not fun. Didn't like how you had to make sure the water temp. was the same too...almost drained my tank once...bugga it all.